Politics

For solutions to D.C. gridlock, look to what 30 GOP governors are doing

By Andrew Malcolm08/24/2013 09:22 AM ET

Gov. Mike Pence gives the Weekly Republican Party Remarks

Hello, I’m Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

These are difficult days for too many Americans.

Our economy isn’t growing as fast as we would like, and businesses aren’t creating as many jobs as we need. In states like Indiana, we’re working every day to give people more freedom to grow their businesses, but the over-regulation, higher taxes and new mandates coming from Washington, D.C. are stifling our economy and hurting efforts being made in states across the country. (Scroll down for full video of these remarks.)

Everywhere I go in Indiana, I meet business owners and workers who are in survival mode. They’re trying to figure out how to survive the new normal of more regulations, higher taxes and the impending costs and mandates of the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare.

As implementation of this law gets closer, we are learning more about the burdens it will place on hardworking Americans. In Indiana, the Affordable Care Act will raise the average cost of health insurance in the individual market by an unaffordable 72%.

In addition, the Obama Administration is creating confusion in the marketplace, from its suspension of the cap on out-of-pocket expenses, to providing subsidies without verifying income, to a one-year suspension of the employer mandate, this health care law is weighing down our economy. It’s costing jobs, discouraging investment and making the future bleak for too many families.

But there is an alternative to waiting on Washington, D.C. to come to its senses and more Americans are realizing every day that the cure for what ails this country is starting to emerge… not in our nation’s capital but in our nation’s state capitals.

All across this country, 30 Republican governors are working hard to push back and preserve freedom.

While Washington raises taxes, Republicans governors are cutting them. As Washington stifles job growth by adding new regulations, Republican governors are adding jobs by eliminating unneeded regulations and bringing fresh approaches to some of the nation’s greatest challenges.

Nowhere is this more true than in health care. Here in Indiana, we run a nationally-recognized program called the Healthy Indiana Plan. The Healthy Indiana Plan offers the uninsured an affordable health care plan with savings accounts that they control.

Giving people in Indiana more freedom and more responsibility over their health care has improved outcomes and now 95% of our plan’s enrollees are satisfied with their coverage.

Gov. Mike Pence

This is a perfect example of the truth that by letting freedom and personal responsibility work together, you reduce the need for government. Republican governors understand this truth, and the proof is in our results. In balanced budgets, lower taxes and less regulation that’s promoting job growth.

These are tough times, and this health care law may make them tougher still.

That’s why we should always remember on whose shoulders we stand-- and never forget as President Reagan reminded us, that ‘the states that created the federal government, the federal government didn't create the states.’

Our founders insisted that protecting the states’ power to govern themselves was vital to limit the power of Washington and preserve freedom. They were right then, and as Republican governors are proving every day, they are even more right now. More freedom and flexibility for the principled leadership emerging in states across this nation can and will promote good healthcare and a healthy economy. Thanks for listening. ####